Palace of Westminster: Line of Route Summer Recess Tours

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	How many visitors participated in the tours of the Palace of Westminster during the 2001 Summer Recess; how much revenue was generated from admission charges and from sales in the souvenir kiosks; what profit was generated from the visitor programme; and how these figures compare with those for the 2000 summer recess.

Lord Tordoff: There were 86,284 visitors over the eight weeks the Line of Route was open this summer, compared with 40,577 over a six-week opening period in 2000. Revenue from ticket sales (VAT adjusted, with the 2000 figure in brackets) was £264,949 (£119,991), and the provisional revenue from merchandising was £100,343 (£136,969).
	The opening of the Line of Route is not intended to make a profit, but to contribute to the public's awareness and understanding of Parliament. The ticket price of £3.50 represents an administration fee, offsetting the costs of ticket booking and of guides. The profits from merchandising, projected to be £10,133 this year, also contribute to the operating costs. This compares to a merchandising loss of £13,764 in 2000 (mostly attributable to one-off start-up costs). Both this year and in 2000 the opening of the Line of Route had a planned deficit of some £232,000, thanks in large part to the costs of extra staff and security. In the event the deficit in 2000 was £209,611, and this year it is estimated that the deficit will have been reduced to around £168,000. The House of Lords is responsible for 40 per cent of this deficit.

Offence of "Corporate Killing"

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is their intention to introduce legislation allowing criminal charges of "corporate killing" to be brought against governors of schools and members of hospital trusts.

Lord Rooker: We are committed to the introduction of an offence of corporate killing which will hold companies accountable for behaviour for which an individual would be liable to a charge of manslaughter. The offence is not designed to capture the taking of a well evaluated risk that any reasonable person would have taken, but only behaviour that falls far below what could reasonably be expected in the circumstances.
	No decisions have yet been taken regarding the inclusion of educational establishments and hospital trusts within the scope of the offence.

Asylum Applications: Assessments at Sangatte

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consideration they are giving to suggestions that there should be joint Franco-British assessment of applicants for asylum at Sangatte in Northern France.

Lord Rooker: As a signatory to the 1951 United Nations convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the United Kingdom has an obligation to consider applications for asylum made within the United Kingdom or at our ports of entry. We cannot consider the merits of an asylum claim unless an application has been made, nor are we under any obligation to consider applications for asylum made outside the United Kingdom.
	On 12 September, the Home Secretary met with Daniel Vaillant, his French counterpart, to discuss a wide range of immigration and asylum issues. During the meeting a number of joint initiatives were agreed which we are currently pursuing further but these do not include a joint assessment of asylum applications from individuals resident at Sangatte.

Slopping Out in Prisons

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 11 July (WA 76), what are the operational reasons for continuing not to provide sanitation in a proportion of cells in segregation units and health care centres.

Lord Rooker: I refer the noble Lord to my Written Answer on 14 September (WA 5).

Slopping Out in Prisons

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the timetable for the programme to provide integral sanitation in cells in segregation units and health care centres.

Lord Rooker: The programme to provide, where appropriate, integral sanitation in cells in segregation units and health care centres is due to be completed by 31 March 2002.

Draft Directive on EU Food Supplements

Lord Clement-Jones: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether current progress on, and the content of, the draft European Union food supplements directive are satisfactory.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government supported this draft directive when political agreement was reached in the Council of Ministers recently. The latest text includes a number of important and hard won concessions.

Haemophiliacs: Hepatitis C Injection

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many haemophilia patients were infected with hepatitis C by contaminated National Health Service blood products; and how many have since died in consequence of their infection.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We estimate that around 4,000 haemophiliacs were infected with hepatitis C and that over 100 have since died.

Medicines Control Agency: Annual Report and Accounts

Lord Gladwin of Clee: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish the annual report and accounts of the Medicines Control Agency.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We have received the report and copies have been laid before both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the requirements of Sections 5(2) and 5(3) of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921. Copies have also been placed in the Library.

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report on Genetics and Insurance: Government Response

Lord Desai: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish their response to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee 5th Report of Session 2000-2001 on genetics and insurance.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government's response to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee 5th Report on genetics and insurance is published today as Cm 5286 and copies have been placed in the Library.

Historical Manuscripts Commission: Quinquennial Review

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will publish the results of the quinquennial review of the functions of the Historical Manuscripts Commission being carried out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Baroness Blackstone: I have received Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield's report of the quinquennial review of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. The report will be published once I have considered it in consultation with ministerial colleagues and the devolved administrations.

Department for Work and Pensions: Information Technology Projects

Earl Russell: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether for each of the following Department for Work and Pensions information technology projects they will list (i) the start date, (ii) the planned completion date, (iii) the current expected completion date, (iv) the planned cost and (v) the current estimated cost--(a) DSS Year 2000 programme; (b) Site Backbone Upgrade; (c) DSS Corporate Intranet; (d) CSA Operations Re-organisation Project (ORP); (e) Decision making and Appeals; (f) Working Families' Tax Credit; (g) Data Protection/Freedom of Information Act(s); (h) Resource Accounting and Budgeting; (i) Devolution (Scotland); (j) PSCS/INCAP--Changes to SDA (SDA Reform); (k) Disability Living Allowance Administrative Reforms; (l) Order Book Control Service (OBCS)--National Rollout Project; (m) HQ Stakeholder Pensions Project; (n) Child Support Reforms New Rules Implementation; (o) Bereavement Benefits; (p) Payment Modernisation Programme; (q) AMS(P) Pensions Forecasting Project; (r) Second State Pension (S2P); (s) Jobseeker's Allowance-New Deal for Partners of the Unemployed; (t) Strategic Debt Solution Project; (u) ACCORD IS/IT Supply Programme (Office and Networks); and (v) ITSA Strategic Outsourcing Project; and
	Whether they will list individual Department for Work and Pensions information technology projects grouped under (a) working age, (b) pensions, (c) children, (d) corporate, and for each of those projects list (i) the start date, (ii) the planned completion date, (iii) the current expected completion date, (iv) the planned cost and (v) the current estimated cost; and
	Whether they will give (a) reasons for, and (b) a breakdown of, the increase from the planned cost of £57 million to a current cost of £432 million for Department for Work and Pensions information technology projects; and
	Whether they will give (a) reasons for, and (b) a breakdown of, the increase from the planned cost of £289 million to a current estimated cost of £726 million for Department for Work and Pensions working age information technology projects; and
	Whether they will give (a) reasons for, and (b) a breakdown of, the increase for the planned cost of £856 million to a current estimated cost of £1,539 million for Department for Work and Pensions corporate information technology projects; and
	Whether they will give (a) reasons for, and (b) a breakdown of, the decrease from the planned cost of £914 million to a current estimated cost of £864 million for Department for Work and Pensions children information technology projects.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The following projects have been concluded: DSS Year 2000; Site Backbone Upgrade; CSA Operations Re-organisation Project; Decision Making and Appeals; Working Families' Tax Credits; Resource Accounting and Budgeting; Devolution (Scotland); Disability Living Allowance Administrative Reforms; Order Book Control Service--National Rollout Project; Bereavement Benefits; Jobseeker's Allowance--New Deal for Partners of the Unemployed; Strategic Debt Solution; Accord IS/IT Supply Programme; and the ITSA Strategic Outsourcing Project.
	Those projects that are still ongoing are included within the overall costs of the modernisation projects supporting the main areas of welfare reform set out in the table below. Projects are brigaded under these headings to facilitate the management of the department's modernisation programme.
	Early estimates have been revised as a result of the 2000 spending review settlement which provided additional funding for modernising the department which enabled it to undertake necessary and more extensive improvements. Additional improvements have also come on stream since initial calculations were made and estimates have been revised as implementation has progressed. This department also now has responsibility for projects that were previously in the domain of the former Department for Employment and Education.
	
		
			 Programme Start date Expected Completion Date Early (planned) Cost Estimates (£ million) Current Estimated Cost (£ million) 
			 Working Age Sept 1999 March 2004 289 726 
			 Pensions Jan 1999 December 2004 57 432 
			 Children Autumn 1999 April 2003 914 864 
			 Corporate June 1999 March 2005 856 1,539 
		
	
	Note: The costs shown have the following characteristics; they do not include any increase for pay and prices over the period; they include both IT and non-IT cost estimates relating to each IT project; they include estimates where IT contracts have not yet been let; they do not include ongoing core costs which will be incurred once the projects "go live". Additionally, the figures are high level estimates that are consequently subject to change. Because of the number of projects involved under each of the headings, the dates given can only be a broad indication of the timescales involved. The expected completion date for the Working Age Programme relates to the first phase of modernisation. The full modernisation of all working age services is likely to continue beyond this date.

Reinsurance: Acts of Terrorism

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in respect of reinsurance cover against acts of terrorism provided for property wholly or partly in industrial or commercial usage in Great Britain and reinsured through the Pool Reinsurance Company Limited following the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993, they are contractually bound under the Retrocession Agreement to meet any deficit in the insurance fund and are therefore the reinsurer of last resort with unlimited liability; and, if so, whether this unlimited reinsurance cover would also be available to meet claims if such buildings suffer damage occasioned by war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection or military or usurped power; and
	(a) For what reasons they would use their power to terminate the Retrocession Agreement between Her Majesty's Treasury and the Pool Reinsurance Company Limited with only 120 days' notice; (b) for how long they intend to keep the Retrocession Agreement in force; and (c) whether they will undertake not to terminate the Retrocession Agreement unless undoubted alternative reinsurance cover is available; and
	What are their definitions, for insurance purposes, of an act of terrorism and an act of war (whether declared or not); and whether on their definition an act of terrorism can also be an act of war.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government are committed to ensuring the continued availability of insurance cover for damage caused by terrorist attacks on industrial and commercial property in mainland Great Britain. The Retrocession Agreement was made following the decision of commercial reinsurers to limit the cover that they would offer in the UK market-place. The cover that is provided, as defined in Section 2 of the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993, deals with the shortfall. The Government act, in effect, as reinsurer of last resort with unlimited liability within the terms of the 1993 Act.
	There is no single statutory definition of an act of terrorism or an act of war. Particular cases would have to be considered in light of the applicable statute and the terms of the insurance policies in question.